


Broken

by unacaritafeliz



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I would die for the NurseFox friendship, Injury, about the injury NOT THE DIBS SITUATION, post 4.8 drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 13:46:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17643959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unacaritafeliz/pseuds/unacaritafeliz
Summary: Coach Hall shifts his eyes to Ford. "Somewhere I can drop you off, Denice?" he asks, kindly.Ford looks out to where Nursey's still standing next to the car, looking as if he has no intention of moving any closer to the Haus. She sighs as she examines the the slump of his shoulders. She's got a stack of homework as tall as she is waiting for her back in her dorm, but she knows it's going to have to wait until tomorrow. This is more important."No thanks, Coach," she says. "I'll get off here."[Nursey's upset about breaking his arm. Foxtrot's a good friend].





	Broken

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place between the events of comic 4.8 (after the injury, before... everything else).

The ride back to the Haus feels endless. Ford can't stop sneaking glances at the other side of the backseat of Coach Hall's Honda, where Nursey's curled up, staring out the window with his good arm clutching his cast. He's been too quiet all afternoon; too quiet as Ollie and Wicky helped him off the ground after his fall, too quiet as Coach Hall drove the two of them to the hospital while the rest of the team showered and headed home, too quiet as the doctor wrapped up his arm and told him it'd be 3 to 6 months before he could get back on the ice.

Ford and Coach Hall have been keeping up a lively if awkward conversation on the drive back to the Haus about everything except hockey, about the last play Ford managed, and the swimming class Coach Hall's daughter just started and whether or not it's going to rain next week. They've been trying to distract Nursey, but he hasn't said a word the whole time, staring out the window as if he couldn't hear them.

Finally, the car pulls up outside the Haus, and Coach Hall spins around in his seat to look at Nursey. He looks sympathetic, which is the worst way he could look when Nursey's definitely already beating himself up about this, but Ford can't blame him. She probably looks pretty sympathetic herself. It's hard not to.

"Here you go, Nurse," Coach Hall says. "Take it easy, okay, son?"

Nursey glances up at Coach Hall, his mossy green eyes completely expressionless. "Thanks, Coach," he mumbles. He pulls the door open with his good hand and gets out.

Coach Hall shifts his eyes to Ford. "Somewhere I can drop you off, Denice?" he asks, kindly.

Ford looks out to where Nursey's still standing next to the car, looking as if he has no intention of moving any closer to the Haus. She sighs as she examines the the slump of his shoulders. She's got a stack of homework as tall as she is waiting for her back in her dorm, but she knows it's going to have to wait until tomorrow. This is more important.

"No thanks, Coach," she says. "I'll get off here."

She swings herself out of the car and walks behind it, moving to stand next to Nursey. They stare up at the Haus together, shoulder to, well, head. Through the curtains of the kitchen, Ford can see Bitty's anxious face peering out at them.

"I bet he's made, like, 300 rhubarb pies," she says.

Nursey huffs through his nose. It might be a laugh, but Nursey's face is still carefully blank when Ford turns to look at him.

"Save me a slice," he says. "I'm just going to hang around for a minute."

He turns before Ford can even react, walking toward the side of the Haus, evidently planning to go sit in the backyard. She takes half a second to debate whether Nursey needs company or solitude right now, before she jogs to catch up with him, slipping her hand through his good arm. She knows well enough by now that Nursey rarely ever needs complete solitude - he's the type of person who takes his comfort from other people.

"Hey," she says, squeezing his arm gently. "I'm going wherever you need me to be, okay? Bitty will make sure no one eats your pie."

Nursey smiles, a tiny little ghost of a thing, and Ford feels something inside her calm down, just the smallest bit. Nursey leads her to the single wooden bench in the Haus back yard, dropping heavily onto one side. Ford gently sits down next to him, gingerly testing the strength of the bench. She's not sure how strong it is, and they really don't need another injury today.

They sit there for a while, not talking, just staring at the Haus together. They're very close together on the bench, and Ford can feel the warmth of Nursey's body all up her side. She hopes warmth of her own body is sending some comfort into his. Time passes, two minutes or twenty, Ford doesn't really know. She also doesn't know what to say right now, but she's not really concerned about that. She knows Nursey will speak when he's ready.

Suddenly Nursey makes a half-aborted choked sound next to her and Ford twists her head to look up at him. She's horrified to notice the tears in his eye; his fake-chill has completely annihilated, his calm façade cracked open to expose his emotions to the world. Ford's never seen like this before, and immediately resolves to do whatever she can to not see him like this ever again.

"Derek..." she starts, before trailing off. She's completely lost as to how to continue.

Nursey drags his good hand across his face, drying his tears more aggressively than he really needs to. "I'm sorry," he says, his voice a little thick.

Ford reaches up to wrap her fingers around his wrist, stilling his hand. "Derek," she says again. This time she uses her Stage Manager Voice, firm and commanding. "Don't."

Nursey stares at her for a moment, his green eyes blurry and tired. He shuts them with an exaggerated exhale breath. Ford focuses on keeping her own breathing steady, a good example if Nursey needs something to follow.

"I'm such a fucking mess," Nursey says, shaking his head. Ford has never seen him so broken; she's never heard his voice sound so small.

"You're not," Ford says.

Nursey opens his eyes. He gives her the most incredulous look, raising up one of his perfect eyebrows.

Ford's really got to remember to compliment him on his eyebrows when he's not in the middle of a crisis.

"You're not," she repeats. She rubs her thumb gently back and forth across his wrist.

"Foxtrot, I literally broke my arm in the stupidest way possible," Nursey deadpans. "I spent two fucking years skating my ass off, making it work with a guy that literally can't stand me, just to fuck it all up the second I make the starting line up."

"You didn't fuck it all up," Ford insists. "You got a goal today! You won us the game!"

"And then immediately got myself benched for the next three-to-six months!" Nursey yells.

Ford can't help it, she flinches back at his tone. She's pretty strong, but the one thing she's never been able to handle is men yelling at her, even ones she trusts as much as Nursey.

"I'm sorry," Nursey says. The fight immediately leaves his body, and he slumps down onto the bench, defeated. "I didn't mean to yell at you."

"I'll let is slide because you're sad and injured," Ford says. "But I do think you shouldn't really be yelling when you might have a concussion."

"That's fair," Nursey says.

He leans back in the chair, letting his head tilt back until he's facing the sky. His entire body is devoid of tension, as if he's completely given up.

"It's only a few months, D," Ford says, as gently as she can. She knocks her shoulder against his arm. "It'll go by before you know it."

Nursey shakes his head. "It'll take the rest of the semester for my arm to heal enough for me to get back on the ice," he says. "And by then I'll probably be out of practice and have to spend the rest of the year trying to get myself back in shape. And by then Hall and Murray will have realised that I shouldn't be on the starting lineup because Poindexter and Bully will have been playing together, and they'll be better than Poindexter and me because they don't actually hate each other. So I'll get put on the second or third shift for my senior year. I should probably just quit the team now."

There's a lot to unpack there. Ford's not really sure where to start, but she knows that most of what Nursey said was bullshit and the most important thing to her right now is that he knows it too.

"Derek, what the fuck?" Ford asks.

Nursey rolls his face to look at her. "What?" he asks.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" she says. "You can't quit the team."

Nursey sighs. "It's not like I actually want to," he says. "I'm just being logical."

"This is literally the furthest from logical you've ever been," Ford says. "Maybe you actually do have a concussion."

Nursey rolls his eyes. "I don't have a concussion, Foxy," he says. "I just... really fucked up today, you know?"

"You had an accident, Nurse, it sucks but it happens," says Ford. She's a little frustrated, but she tries to keep it out of her voice. "It's not the end of the world."

"Nah," says Nursey. "Just the end of my hockey career."

Ford sighs. She knew how dramatic and stubborn hockey boys could be when she signed up for this job, but sometimes she really wishes they could chill for just one goddamn moment of her life.

She reaches over and takes Nursey's good hand in hers; lacing their fingers together. His hand dwarfs hers and it's almost laughable to think that she's the one trying to protect him.

"Look, it's been a long day," she says, gently. "And you're tired, and your emotions are all over the place. Nothing I can say is going to make a difference to you tonight, even though it's important to me that you know that you are an incredible hockey player and I fully believe the coaches are going to do whatever they can to get you back on the ice as soon as possible."

Nursey shakes his head like he doesn't believe her. God, she hates to see him like this.

"So, I propose we table this discussion for tomorrow," she continues. "Hopefully you'll feel better in the morning. If you don't, we'll work it out then, okay? We can talk to the coaches, see what they think. Maybe we can call Ransom and Holster too? Or Jack."

Nursey shakes his head. "No point annoying them with my stupidity," he says.

Ford squeezes his hand, once, deciding it's not worth arguing tonight, especially with Nursey on concussion watch. "It' not stupid," she says. "But we'll work it out tomorrow. Tonight, let's just steal three dozen pies from the kitchen and watch bad reality TV in your bed until we fall asleep, okay? I'll stay with you tonight."

"You don't have to," Nursey protests.

"I don't," Ford agrees. "But I'm going to."

Nursey looks like he's going to protest again, but Ford just keeps staring at him, her eyebrows raised, until he just nods. She smiles as he sits back in the chair, resigned. She wishes she could do more for him right now, wishes there was someway to magically make everything better, but she'll take what she can get.

"You know, staying with me means staying with Poindexter," Nursey says. "And he's probably definitely in a bad mood already."

Ford rolls her eyes. "I'll get him to swap rooms with C for the night," she says. "It's probably for the best anyway, I don't really want him anywhere near you with your possible concussion."

Nursey sighs. "Yeah, good luck with that, Foxy," he says. "He'll probably say it's unfair that he has to give up his room or whatever."

Ford shrugs. "Eh, if he does I'll threaten to room him with Tony for the next away game," she says. "He'll ask questions all night. And he snores."

Nursey sits up and frowns at her.

"What?" she asks.

"How do you know Tango snores?" he asks. "And since when do you call him 'Tony'?"

Ford feels her face heat in spite of herself and really hopes Nursey can't tell that her cheeks are flushing. It's not that she's ashamed of her crush on Tango, or her crush on Whiskey for that matter, but she knows they're both into other people and nothing will come out of it, so she'd really appreciate it if no one ever found out about it.

"He fell asleep during a Disney movie marathon with me and Connor the other day," she says. Her voice is maybe pitched too high, because one of Nursey's eyebrows raise up. "and I call you Derek sometimes, too. It's not a big deal."

"Right, sure," Nursey says. There's a hint of a smirk on his face and honestly Ford wouldn't mind being chirped for the rest of eternity if it meant she could keep it there.

Ford bumps her shoulder against his. "Sure," she repeats. "You ready to go in?"

Nursey looks up at the Haus and Ford follows his gaze. Bitty's glancing out of the living room window now. Ford wishes she could use their captain-manager bond to tell him to Please Fuck Off.

"In a sec," Nursey says. "You can go though. Get a head start on Poindexter."

Ford burrows into Nursey's side, bringing her free hand to wrap around their joint ones. "Nah," she says. "I'm good right here."

"Thanks, Foxtrot," says Nursey, leaning his cheek against her hair.

"Got your back," she says.

**Author's Note:**

> I know the NurseyDex stuff in 4.8 was brutal but honestly? I'm more concerned with Nursey being sad about breaking his arm and getting benched for god knows how long. This was supposed to have more discussion about it, but #writersblock or whatever so I kind of just breezed past it. I've kind of planned a follow-up of him talking to Jack about it though so maybe I will post that in fifteen years.
> 
> Anyway, NurseFox is the best friendship and we need more of it in this fandom thank you for coming to my TedTalk.
> 
> [Edit: I have written more NurseFox friendship. It's called Broken II and I'd love for you to read it too!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19126108)


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